GLEN RIDGE – Former Glen Ridge High School baseball head coach Lou Calderone will be inducted into the New Jersey Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame on June 14 prior to the 39th annual New Jersey Baseball Coaches All-Star Game on June 14 at Diamond Nation, located at 129 River Road in Flemington.
The induction ceremony will begin at 5:30 p.m. and the All-Star Game doubleheader will start at 6 p.m.
Calderone boasted a stellar 507-199 record in 28 years (1971-1990, 1993-98, and 2000-2001) as the Ridgers baseball coach. He was hired by the Glen Ridge Board of Education in 1968 and served as physical education and health teacher until 1997. He then served as the GRHS athletic director from 1998 to 2006 and retired July 1, 2006 after 38 years.
Calderone was the JV baseball coach in 1970 before becoming the head coach.
In 1991 and 1992, Calderone took a sabbatical from coaching to be an assistant girls basketball coach and a volunteer softball coach at Whippany Park HS to see his daughter, Elysa, play both sports.
At GRHS, Calderone also was an assistant boys basketball coach for 15 years and assistant girls basketball coach for two years.
Calderone, who resides in Nellysford, Va., returns to Glen Ridge every summer to conduct his Summer MVP All Sport Camps at GRHS, for boys and girls ages 6-13. This year’s Camps will take place for six weeks, June 27 to August 5.
For more information on his Camps, call Calderone at 434-361-2226 or email at [email protected].
LOU CALDERONE’S CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
- 5 New Jersey State Championships (1975, 1981, 1983, 1988, 1993)
- 7 North Jersey Sectional Championships (1975, 1996, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1988, 1993)
- 12 Colonial Hills Conference championships
- 2 Essex County championships (1987 and 1989)
- Coach of the Year, N.J. Coaches Association (1975, 1981, 1983, 1988, 1993)
- Coach of the Year, New York Daily News (1975 and 1981)
- Coach of the Year on Conference, Local and County level for several years
- National High School Gold Baseball Coaching Award (1987)
- National Baseball Coach of the Year, by the National Federation of Interscholastic Officials Association (1989)
- New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame (1997)
- Glen Ridge HS Hall of Fame (2004)
- South Plainfield HS Hall of Fame (2006).